Lalu's RJD and Nitish's JD-U Attack Modi over Failure to Control Manipur Violence

Patna: The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) Mahagathbandhan on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his total failure to control violence in Manipur following the horrifying video that surfaced on social media and questioned Modi's silence.

RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav directly attacked Modi, asking, “Who is the PM of the country? If Congress leader Rahul Gandhi can visit violence hit Manipur, why can Modi not go there as the PM?

This is a big irony that the country's PM Modi was silent over Manipur, and the Supreme Court was forced to intervene. “In place of PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi visited Manipur. Is this achche din? It was repeatedly claimed that achche din (good days) would come, which means Manipur is not in the country. Modi should explain to the people that they had voted him to power twice to witness such conditions in the country,” said Yadav.

Yadav stated that more than anyone, the biggest responsibility lies with the PM, who has not intervened to control violence in Manipur. However, an Opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, visited Manipur, interacted with local people facing violence, tried to understand the problem, and stated that violence should not take place in Manipur.

“The entire country is witnessing how Manipur is burning despite the double engine government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Manipur and at the centre. If there was a government of another party and such violence took place, all the central agencies would have acted so far,” he said.

"Manipur has been burning for months, but Modi has no time to visit. He has time to visit abroad, not Manipur, to end the violence that killed hundreds,” Yadav told media here.

He targeted Modi for doing politics of hate in the country and said an attempt was being made to finish democracy and the Constitution. He also targeted ‘Godi Media’ for not showing the real picture of Manipur, and was more keen to focus on false propaganda related to the Opposition unity alliance, INDIA.

JD-U national president Lalan Singh, considered close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, widely seen as de facto chief of JD-U, attacked Modi and dared him to speak on violence in Manipur.

"Video of Manipur is shameful and exposes how bad the situation is there. Modi has been visiting foreign countries and claimed that the country’s (India) respect has increased. But the reality is different in the country; women in Manipur paraded naked, and Modi is silent,” he said.

Singh said Modi has to answer why he was silent on Manipur violence and how the double-engine government failed to control violence.

Meanwhile, Modi has reportedly finally broken his ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence) on the violence that has been rocking Manipur, where his party, the BJP, has been in power.

Kumar's JD-U and Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD are major allies of the Opposition unity alliance INDIA. In Bihar, they are Known champions of 'pro-Mandal' politics that challenge the saffron party's Hindutva politics.

With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections hardly nine months away, BJP is worried about facing the ruling Mahagathbandhan consisting of RJD, JD-U, Congress and the Left parties.

Political watchers here said that the top leadership of BJP understand that Bihar is a weak ground for the party in view of aggressive Mahagathbandhan and its strong social support base. Taking this into view, BJP has increased the number of its allies in Bihar. Till last month BJP had only one ally - the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of union minister Pasupati Kumar Paras. But in recent days, three small regional parties LJP(R) of Chirag Paswan, HAM of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and former union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party joined hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).